Enel CEO: Italy's Enel wants to buy back shares as a way to reward shareholders

Enel, one of Europe's largest utilities, may offer a share repurchase to reward investors. The chief executive said this on Thursday following the presentation of 2024 results.

Last year, the group reduced its net debt from 2.7 times its core earnings in 2023 to 2.4 in 2018 thanks to a comprehensive asset disposal program that began in late 2022.

Renewable power generation boosted EBITDA to 22.8 billion euro, in line with the analyst consensus.

Enel CEO Flavio Cattaneo responded to analysts' questions about whether it is time to switch from asset sales to acquisitions by saying that the group will be selective when purchasing assets.

Cattaneo stated that they only consider M&A transactions which are accretive, and would rather buy their own shares.

Enel said it will ask shareholders to approve at their next meeting a buyback program worth up to 3.80 billion euros. The group also announced that they would pay out a dividend per share of 0.47 euros, up from the 0.43 euro in 2023.

Enel's shareholders can also vote to cancel shares acquired, allowing the group to buy back shares to increase the value.

The Group's net profit rose to 7.1 milliards euros, exceeding analyst expectations of 6.99 billion euros.

Enel’s integrated business, which includes power generation as well as energy sales, saw a 14% increase in core profit last year.

The integrated business grew and expanded in Spain, Latin America and Italy. In Italy, the group reduced retail power prices in order to retain customers on a very competitive market.

The core profit of the group's business in power distribution increased by 8% from 2023.

Capital expenditures for the group fell from 13.6 billion euro in 2023 to 11 billion euro in 2023. Investments in renewable energy projects dropped from 5.9 billion euro in 2023 to 3.2 billion Euros in 2023.

(source: Reuters)